The One in the Back
by The Lady Avaritia
Summary: He's never been jealous of any of his siblings.


**Title: The One in the Back**

**Rating: T**  
**Spoilers: G**eneral

**Characters**: Odysseus

**Summary: He's never been jealous of any of his siblings.**

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

Odysseus, the Mediocre Prince.

He'd never claimed to be good. He couldn't really be classified as bad either. He had an ordinary, even bland appearance, a forgettable face. He had no special qualities to set him apart from anyone else. And he was perfectly happy like that, thank you very much.

One day when their father died, he would step down and let Schneizel rule, no hard feelings. All he really wanted was to live in peace.

He was nothing like Cornelia, aiming for a brilliant military career. His piloting skills were good, his defense, he was told, really impressive. But defense was not how the royal family played.

He was not like Euphy, characterized by a gentle caring nature. And while, with a smiling face, he would go to huge lengths for his family, he was not ashamed to admit that as far as he was concerned, the world could do without him.

He was nothing like Clovis. His skills as a lover, he'd been told, were nothing outstanding. He didn't mind. Women held very little interest for him, and so did starting a family. He was an atrocious artist. He enjoyed art, but did not see a point to it. And he thought the world was alright as it was, no more beauty needed than already existed.

He didn't have any of Nunnally's bright optimism and gentle dreams. The world was a harsh place. People were cruel. People died. He'd accepted it.

Really, Odysseus' only outstanding trait was his unusual name. The name of the cleverest Greek hero, the man who brought Troy down. The man who searched for his home for ten years.

He was nothing like his namesake either. Except for the second part, the one about looking for home. Odysseus had looked for a home for forever.

And looking back now… swallowing nonexistent pride (for pride was his father's fatal flaw and he had none of it in him), he would admit, willingly, his happiest days were those spent under the influence of Lelouch's Geass, as an ordinary foot soldier, freed from the obligations of a court life where, like vultures, everyone waited for him to take a wrong step, stumble, break his neck and die, so they could throw themselves at him and devour his insides. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

And now, when the Demon Emperor's days were over, he was as happy as ever to fade in back, and give his siblings his support. If they ever asked for it.

Occasionally, he'd reflect on what had brought them here. It would only cement his thesis further – he was not jealous of his siblings.

He thought of Schneizel. Schneizel who was so brilliant, they had to adjust the grading scale to his IQ to fit it on, Schneizel, the white knight, who was clever, and magnificent, but consumed by apathy and carelessness, only wishing for a world that wouldn't demand anything from him. A man lacking in the ambition to win, and merely searching for entertainment, making all the moves that would guarantee an outcome different than what was expected. Perhaps Cornelia was right. N a peaceful world, this man with no ambitions and personal drive would be a perfect king.

And Lelouch. Lelouch, who was no less brilliant, and much more ambitious, Lelouch who was consumed by his maddening drive to win, to prove himself, to assert his points, Lelouch whose mind was an endless maze of possibilities and factors and conditions which needed to be cleared. Odysseus likes to think that this is what drove Lelouch mad in the end.

He has never been jealous of them. Any one of them, his many bright brilliant siblings. He was nothing like them. Perhaps that's what made him unique? He was the ordinary man in a family of extraordinary people. Which lucky star would he thank for resembling his father only in appearance?

Odysseus' one true gift was his blandness. After all… who would want to assassinate a man who wasn't good at anything, especially politics (in which he was so indecisive, he had to use Schneizel as a crutch more often than not)? Better keep him there, to relate to the commoners.

Good logic, father, he thought. Good logic.

And the prodigious had fallen one after the other.

Odysseus was not jealous.


End file.
